One thing I noticed in the article is that places like these are dying out. Any thoughts as to why? What do the chains have that barber shops don't? Slick marketing? Check-in apps? I find this sort of thing fascinating...

(08-25-2014, 08:40 AM)Shannons Soaps Wrote: One thing I noticed in the article is that places like these are dying out. Any thoughts as to why? What do the chains have that barber shops don't? Slick marketing? Check-in apps? I find this sort of thing fascinating...

I think part of it is that salons/stylists have become more unisex while barbershops are still pretty much just for dudes. So the convenience factor leans in favor of the chain shops and stylists. If Dad and son can get his hair cut at the same place as Mom and daughter, why not get it all out of the way in one stop?

The primary services that barbers offer and beauticians cannot (shaving) has gotten very expensive and rare. If it were the old days of "shave and a hair cut, 2 bits" and I could get professionally cleaned up in the morning before a meeting or date without spending a ton, a barbershop would be a no-brainer. But when a shave costs more than a haircut (more than twice a haircut in some places) and the barber does so few that the result is likely to be no better than I can do at home... what does going to a barber really buy me?

Add in the amount that people move around for work these days, and you cut out the history aspect. I was doomed from the word go as an Air Force brat, but even if we start counting from junior high, my old barber was first on the other side of the state from where I went to college and entered the workforce, and now 4 states away. So there's no "take my boy to the man who cut my hair when I was a kid" option or affection.

I think small barbershops operate a lot on community and camaraderie, and once that gets disrupted it can be hard to reestablish. And it also can have the unintended consequence of alienating potential customers whose life circumstances, religion, politics, hobbies, etc are too different from the established atmosphere. My father's barbershop, last time I was there, ran on 3 parts hunting, 1 part NASCAR and 1 part an extremely vitriolic form of Republicanism. Not really someplace I'm that interested in returning to.

None of which is to say that barbershops aren't a worthwhile place to check out. I recently tried a local family owned place in my town and quite liked it. The barber was gregarious and skilled, my haircut was very nice, the shop was neat and pleasant. I'll be going back once I start getting shaggy again.

All good points. I have to believe that there is a marketing aspect involved here too... Not necessarily advertising, but marketing in the product sense. Like maybe a chain offers a little less risk in addition to a hair cut. If you go to Applebee's for dinner, you know what you're going to get. If you go to a family restaurant you've never heard of, it's a bit of a gamble.

I do my hair cutting in the bathroom with clippers, so it's hard for me to speak from personal experience. My wife and daughter go together to the salon.